Type A Behavior Pattern: Relationship to Variation in Blood Pressure, Parental Characteristics, and Academic and Social Activities of Students

This study has analyzed the relationships between the Type A, or coronary-prone, behavior pattern and several physiological, behavioral and psychosocial characteristics and also has tested whether an increase in academic demands was associated with an increase in students' Type A scores. The Type A behavior pattern, as assessed by the Type A score of the Jenkins Activity Survey, was not related to average blood pressure, variability in blood pressure over a nine-week period, or increases in blood pressure following weeks when the respondent's normal life routine had been disrupted. Students who were more Type A spent more time studying or in classes. Type A students also had higher grade point averages. In contrast, Type A students were not more successful in relationships with the opposite sex nor in social relationships generally. Thus, the Type A behavior pattern appears to contribute to career success, which has traditionally been emphasized for men, but not to social success of the type that has traditionally been emphasized for women. Type A men recalled their fathers as having been more severe, having punished them more often physically, and having made them feel resentful rather than guilty when punished. Type A women recalled their mothers as having punished them more often physically. These parental behaviors may contribute to the development of anger and aggression, which are important components of the Type A behavior pattern. For the students who showed a large change in Type A scores between the beginning and the end of the academic semester, Type A scores increased at the end of the semester. Students with greater evidence of academic pressure showed more increase in Type A scores.